Tag: user research
-
Small Changes, Large Impact: How Beta Tests Improved Amazon's App.
When most people plan to run a beta test, they think big. We need to test the entire app for usability. We have to find all the bugs before we launch. Lets rebrand our entire site. While thinking about the entire product and entire user flow is necessary, sometimes it’s the smallest things that…
-
Real-Life Lessons from Design Testing Failures
Whether you’re a startup or a mature corporation, you should user-test new features and UI designs. Sometimes design testing will end in failure, but you can learn from your mistakes, as well as others’. Here are some lessons learned from real-life design testing failures. When you redesign your product, you do it to satisfy your…
-
How to Turn Beta Testers Into Real Users
Find the right beta testers and they’re more likely to become real users. When testing for Usability, UX or running a Q/A Bug test, you typically want to run the tests with participants that match your target audience as closely as possible. When you obtain feedback from users that are representative of the people who…
-
Beta Testing a New Feature: When to Use the "Beta" Label
When a new product is in the beta phase, it’s normal to clearly identify this. But what about when beta testing a new feature in an already public product? Should you tell users that this is a “beta” feature? First, let’s quickly define what “Beta” means: “Beta” is the phase in software development between the…
-
User Experience Article Roundup – Alternative User Research and Growing as a Designer
In this edition of User Experience Article Roundup: free user research alternatives, inspiration from a subway map, what happens when robots sound human, and more. Cheap and free under-the-radar alternatives to field visits It’s vital to understand your users, particularly when it comes to the context in which they use your product. Site visits with…
-
MORE Reasons to Use a Longitudinal Study to Test Your App
Here are more examples of insights that a longitudinal study can provide about your web or mobile application and its users, to help you improve your user experience and increase profitability. Earlier this month, I revisited longitudinal studies and provided a number of specific-ish examples of valuable insights you might gain from running one. To refresh…
-
Why You Want to Use Longitudinal Studies for Your Product Testing
The longitudinal study is a powerful tool for testing your product and learning about your users. Here are some examples of why you might use longitudinal studies. User testing tends to be single-serving research. Whether it’s remote, unmoderated testing or an in-person moderated session, user testing tends to span a short period and gather a…
-
4 Reasons NOT to Use Polished Prototypes in Early Usability Testing
Your usability testing might be negatively affected by an overly polished prototype. In our current age of prototyping tools, it’s cheaper and easier than ever to create beautiful, clickable prototypes for usability testing. It is now feasible to sit your very first usability test participants in front of a fully interactive prototype that looks and…
-
When a Failed A/B Test is Still a Success
If the current design beats the new design in an A/B test (a.k.a “split test”), the experiment is called a failure. But it’s the best kind of failure there is. Let’s say you have an idea that you think will work. You try that idea out… and find out that no, it doesn’t work. In…
-
User Experience Article Roundup – Better Personas and Fast Research
Read our User Experience Article Roundup: UX rules, bold design, perspective on personas, and other articles and resources from the user experience world. The 15 Rules Every UX Designer Should Know An easy-to-read mix of rules, principles, and suggestions for anyone who makes products for users. #2 is “Know your audience” and #3 is “You…
BetaTesting Blog 